The Estée Lauder Companies Elects Wei Sun Christianson to Its Board of Directors

NEW YORK - Wednesday, March 2nd 2011 [ME NewsWire]


(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Wei Sun Christianson as a Director effective March 1, 2011. Ms. Christianson will serve as a member of the Nominating and Board Affairs Committee. She is currently a Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for China at Morgan Stanley based in Beijing.

“We are delighted to welcome Wei Sun Christianson to our Board of Directors,” said William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman. “Her extensive financial expertise, strong business acumen and understanding of China will be invaluable to our Board and management team as we continue to grow in China and other key emerging markets.”

At Morgan Stanley, Ms. Christianson is responsible for the oversight and global coordination for all of the company’s business activities in China and is a member of Morgan Stanley’s Firm Management Committee. Prior to rejoining the company in 2006, she was the Chairman of China for Citigroup Global Markets (Asia) Ltd and previously served as Chairman of China and Country Manager for Credit Suisse First Boston. Ms. Christianson held an earlier position at Morgan Stanley beginning in 1998 as Executive Director and Beijing Representative. She was previously an Associate Director of the Corporate Finance Department at the Hong Kong Securities and Finance Commission (SFC) where she was instrumental in developing the regulatory framework for the public listing of Mainland Chinese securities in Hong Kong. She also worked as an attorney in the New York offices of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Ms. Christianson graduated cum laude from Amherst College and received her law degree with honors from the Columbia University School of Law. She also serves on the Board of Trustees at Amherst College.

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The Company’s products are sold in over 150 countries and territories under the following brand names: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives, Lab Series, Origins, M•A•C, Bobbi Brown, Tommy Hilfiger, Kiton, La Mer, Donna Karan, Aveda, Jo Malone, Bumble and bumble, Darphin,Michael Kors, American Beauty, Flirt!, GoodSkin Labs, Grassroots Research Labs, Sean John, Missoni, Daisy Fuentes, Tom Ford, Coach, Ojon and Smashbox.

An electronic version of this release can be found at the Company’s website, www.elcompanies.com.

The forward-looking statements in Mr. Lauder’s remarks above involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements include current economic and other conditions in the global marketplace, shifts in the preferences of consumers as to where and how they shop for the types of products the Company sells, competition, the Company’s ability to continue to successfully implement its long-term strategic plan and those described in the Company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

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Contacts

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

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Dennis D’Andrea,

212-572-4384



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Alexandra Trower,

212-572-4430